Thursday, January 13, 2011

Only one way to go from here...

Before I ramble about what would only be of interest to my good friends and family, its come to my attention that there have been a few more readers on the blog lately.

To you who are not the small handful of loyal readers, hello. Also, it should be pointed out that this blog was never created with the intention of entertaining the masses. It has always been an easy way to keep my closest (yet physically far) friends and family up to date on what has been going on in my life.

To the random passerby, I can easily see how stumbling across one of these posts could elicit a "who cares?" response. And I understand. I mean, you don't know me. Why do you care what I made for dinner, or about my latest unemployment woes? Why on earth would you want to hear me talk excitedly (and repeatedly) about my grand plans for losing weight? And for the childless among you readers, enough about your stinkin' kid already!

So, to any of you whose thoughts sound a lot like the previous paragraph, feel free to stay or go. Just be warned, these posts may bore you at times.

Having said all that, I've had quite the week. And not in the best way.

I came down with some cold/flu bug back in December that hung on for about 2 weeks. I seemed to be rid of it, and then early this week, a sore throat reared its ugly head. I was hoping it was just a sign of the lack of sleep that has become the norm for me, or the "cold" weather we've been getting here in Florida.

No such luck.

I relapsed. Hard. The coughing has been intense. And painful. Add to that having to be responsible for the little guy most of the day as J tries to recover from a messed up shoulder, and you have me walking around barely conscious.

You know what you need when you feel like that? A mini disaster that gives you heart palpitations. Let's see...how about your dog getting hit by a car? Right in front of you. And your child.

That's right. Dudley got hit by a car this week.

I was walking Jonas down to see my mom, and Duds slipped out of the house and followed us. We live in a small, quiet, residential neighborhood - no through roads. While I don't like him off his leash, I couldn't do anything at the moment with Jonas, so I let him continue to follow us. (For those who don't know, my parents live about 4 to 5 houses away - on a different street, but about that distance) Once there, I was poised to knock on the door when I heard the neighbor across the street come outside with her dog. At the same time, I could hear a car up the road. In an instant, I knew what was about to happen and stood horrified that there was nothing I could do to stop it. Dudley darted to see his doggie friend, the car (going faster than it should) came flying down, and SMACK!

My instinct was to run towards my dog. I actually started to take a few steps in that direction and realized I couldn't leave Jonas. Knocking on my mom's door, I saw Dudley jump off and run up towards our house.

In a rush, I told my mom that Dudley had been hit and I needed to go after him, handed off Jonas, and headed up the street, ignoring the man standing outside of his car, who up to this point had only said, "Did I hit him?" and "That wasn't my fault."

Back at the house, J was already on the lookout for Dudley, since he could hear that someone/thing got hit from the house. When I walked in the house, there was Duds, tail uncurled (a sign that he is sad) looking up at me with a frightened look on his face. I examined him head to toe, squeezing his limbs gently to see if he flinched or whimpered.

Aside from a few scratches, he was completely fine. Yup. Smacked by a car, totally ok.

Shortly after the accident, ok, but milking it for the camera.

I went back outside and calmly talked to the driver, who had followed me to my house and told him things were ok, and while I wanted to tell him he needed to reconsider the speed he chooses to cruise down the street at in a neighborhood full of kids and dogs, I decided that it was best that I just let it go.

To recap, up to this point, miserably sick, near heart attack over the almost loss of Duds...that's enough for one week, right?

Apparently, no.

Somewhere in the process of trying to massage J's messed up shoulder, and hacking my lungs up, I pulled MY shoulder.

So, as if the incessant coughing wasn't enough to contribute to my lack of sleep, now the shooting pains up and down my neck and shoulder would ensure that I only catnap.

That brings us to me sitting here, with a bag of heated rice slung over my shoulder, hacking away.

At least I can hold on to the hope that if your week is this crappy, it can only get better, right?

.....

In employment related news, there is no news. BUT, J is getting more calls from recruiters and even had an interview this week, which is a positive way to start the year. And a friend of mine who was let go from the same company I was, on the same day, finally found a job. Which makes me hopeful that things may start to turn around for the rest of us in the same boat.

Yup. Silver lining and all that.

Current Mood: Hopeful. And slightly cranky. Yes, you can be both.Currently Listening to: the sounds of Oswald playing on the TV